Artemis Fowl: After the Epilogue
by Anne Elke
Summary: After the tumultuous events of TLG Artemis is putting himself back together, Hopefully you like it, Read and review please :) (constructive criticism welcome) ALSO: disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Artemis Fowl universe
1. Chapter 1

**The First Puzzle Piece**

The first rays of sunlight branched over the grounds surrounding Fowl Manor, filling the room of one Artemis Fowl with the soft light of early morning. To any outside observer the young man lying on his side was a handsome raven haired teen with a ghostly pale complexion. This outside observer would probably not guess that this mere boy had helped to halt rebellions, taken part in kidnappings, built world saving technology, traveled through time, and saved the entire human race. He was perhaps the only lad above ground that could say that he had died and returned to the land of the living with the aid of flash cloning technology. His most recent escapades had seen him die and come back to life seemingly without his memories.

Artemis stirred from his sleep, his dreams were fraught with shouted words, tears, and then the feeling of being pulled in two directions at the same time. He rubbed the remnants of rest from his eyes and sat up holding his head in his hands. Mulling over this dream he felt an almost familiar rush as the dream was processed in his hippocampus and was restored in its rightful place as a memory.

"One piece of the puzzle falls into place…" muttered Artemis, as he pinched the bridge of his nose in response to the blaring headache that seemed to come with the return of his first memory.

Artemis rubbed his temple with his left hand as he felt another rushing feeling as a host of new memories assailed his consciousness. Any normal person would have been overwhelmed by the staggering amount of information that assailed Artemis' brain but he sat meditatively sorting through the vast jumble of experiences and emotions.

'I appear to have knowledge of my life up to the age of thirteen.' Artemis thought, 'I can reasonably conclude that there is much of my past that has not been made apparent as not only are there are seemingly vast blank periods between my most recent memory and the memories that came in the second rush but there is much that Holly has told me that hasn't filtered through my brain apparently.'

Swinging his feet over the side of the bed he made his way towards the bathroom. Still processing these newfound memories as he lingered under the hot water of the shower he shook his head in disgust, not in response to any particular aspect of bathing, but rather at what he had done. He didn't know exactly why but he felt guilt and more than a little sadness when he recalled his first interactions with the fairy folk. Holly had spent the last three days regaling Artemis of their adventures and misadventures, but with the memories pulsing through his head it brought a new life to her words. He sighed heavily and picked an orange scented organic shampoo and began to clean himself, there were going to be many more headaches in his future but he welcomed the prospect as it was a small price to pay for reclaiming pieces of himself.

His shower complete he dressed in an Armani suit, well part of an Armani suit. He kept the dress slacks and shirt but refrained from wearing what he assumed to be his customary tie and jacket. After dressing he looked at himself in the mirror, a moment's consideration led him to roll up his sleeves to his elbows. The old suits from his memories made him look as serious and imposing as a young man in a designer suit can be.

'I am not yet wholly myself again, but based on what I remember currently I have no desire to behave in a manner similar to my younger self.' Artemis mused as he combed his hair and stepped out into the hallway. 'Holly did mention that I have made remarkable changes throughout our friendship, she cannot be exaggerating if my memory of what I did to the poor silky sifka is true.'

Butler was in the kitchen preparing a vegetarian breakfast while Juliet entertained Myles and Beckett. His father and mother were currently out tending the plot of land the fowls had kept for their own purposes. The estate now had several cottages and much of the land was sectioned off belonging to different locals who now did their own farming to survive. The Fowls were no exception and every morning Artemis Sr. and Angeline rose just before dawn to head to the family plot to maintain their crops.

Butler noticed his young charge descending the stairs looking at Juliet and himself with much more recognition in his eye than he had for the past three days. It had been such a miraculous relief when Artemis has sat up among the strange rose bush but his complete lack of memory had been an unexpected complication. Butler still had mixed feelings about Artemis' current state but he could not deny that whatever the cost to his memories it was infinitely preferable to the alternative.

"Good morning Artemis did you sleep well?" Butler inquired, watching Artemis as he made his way around the twins who were taking it in turns to put on Juliet's luchador mask.

"I had quite a strange dream that turned out to not be a dream at all, but rather a partial memory of my death." Artemis answered in his characteristic matter-of-fact tone. And in answer to Butler's raised eyebrow he quickly added, "It was immediately followed by a recall of all events up to the fairy mind wipe."

Butler nodded, "So, you have your memories up to the age of thirteen?" It was Artemis' turn to nod as he grimaced, "There are things I have done, that I am not proud of, namely the kidnapping and dealing with a group such as the extinctionists. I find myself looking forward to the memories that I can look upon more favorably."

"If you remember as much as you say you do, then you know you have done far more good than harm. But don't worry Artemis it will all come back." Butler laid a spade sized hand on Artemis' shoulder meanwhile looking past him to the stairway. The corners of Butler's mouth turned up slightly as he went back to making breakfast.

Artemis looking around saw the now familiar face of Holly Short. Their gazes met across the room and Holly beamed when she saw the recognition in Artemis' ice blue eyes. She walked down to the table pausing only to dodge a tiny Beckett sized luchador, and to wish good morning to Juliet as she passed her and Myles working on biology flashcards that Myles had made himself.

Artemis turned, smiling, to face Holly, "So mud boy do you remember me now?" She asked, fist coming to a rest on her hip as her eyebrow rose. "I can remember right up to the mind wipe, after that it is… blank, for a while." Artemis felt no need to bring up the memory of his death, he felt that he should speak to Holly in private concerning that particular memory. Artemis continued, "I realize I am not the same person that I was in my recently regained memories, so that would infer there is still much to process but I hope to make some headway, plus," he added, "Thirteen years of memories is a fairly promising start."

Holly grabbed an apple from the kitchen and after taking a bite she asked, "Did anything particular get you to start remembering or was it just a sudden recall?" she finished her query with a bite of apple as she looked at Artemis chewing thoughtfully. Artemis fidgeted, glancing at the twins, Beckett was suitably preoccupied but Myles was trying to subtly listen in on their conversation between flashcards.

Artemis stepped towards the door, "I think that it would be best if we continued this discussion outside, if you would join me for a walk." He said, smiling and motioning to the door. Artemis and Holly had been taking walks around Fowl Manor frequently over the last three days as they discussed a past that Artemis couldn't remember until now. Holly had informed him of as much as she could of the events involving her and the People. Holly caught up with Artemis as he was heading for the door punching him on the arm as they went, and though it hurt a bit, Artemis smiled as the action seemed so familiar to him.

Butler half yelled across the kitchen, "Breakfast in ten." Holly who had been about to make a jibe at Artemis as a follow up to the punch responded instead to Butler, "We will be back in a few minutes." And with that they left to walk the grounds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pulling the Trigger**

Artemis left the house followed by Holly as they made their way out into what had once been the grounds of Fowl Manor. The the fields were tilled and people from the surrounding towns and countryside had crops growing to make up for the losses in the global supply chain after the Koboi event. Artemis slowed his pace slightly so Holly could catch up.

"So Arty, what is our destination today?" Holly asked lightly, she didn't even bother shielding as nobody in the surrounding area was paying the least bit of attention to the seemingly mismatched pair as they made their way down the drive. 'The huge number of sightings of fairy vehicles dropping out of the sky and our stakeout boxes fizzling into the visible spectrum would be attracting the most attention anyway," thought Holly, 'Who cares about a man and a midget walking down a road when there are technological wonders winking into existence.'

"I want to visit the rosebush." Artemis said calmly though below the surface he was anxious. 'Not many people get to visit the place where they died,' Artemis mused, 'Really I should count myself fortunate, these feelings of anxiety are not constructive.'

Holly looked away for a moment, "If you think it will help…" Artemis was confused by her response, if anyone was to be upset by the rosebush he thought it would have been him.

"I do, I was thinking about it and you have been here for far longer than would be expected. Have you been returning to Tara each night?" Artemis inquired. "From what I can remember the only times we have had anything close to this amount of time to interact, one or both of our worlds were in danger." He finished with what Holly could only assume to be Artemis' equivalent of a sheepish grin.

Holly shrugged, "Trouble wanted me below ground two days ago, to help with the rebuilding efforts. I said I needed to help you first and Foaly backed me up, He didn't like it but he had other more pressing concerns than one officer. Plus, if you get back up to speed you can help us rebuild that much faster." Holly said, "Not to mention that we haven't really gotten the chance to exchange our usual, rather gigantic amount, of V-mail correspondence." She finished with a chuckle.

They came up next to the rosebush, its strangeness apparent from stem to oddly colored flower. Artemis sat down next to the bush and Holly followed suit. "I remember a bit more than I initially led you to believe back at the manor," Artemis said almost guiltily. "I remember you and Butler cresting the hill and your shouted words." He took a few deep breaths the happier tone of the past few minutes was gone. Holly looked shocked and somewhat apprehensive but she listened, hazel and blue eyes catching Artemis' own. She reached over and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze which seemed to goad Artemis into speech. "When… _it_… happened, everything went dark for a moment where I felt like my head was being tugged on by two bull trolls. Then I opened what I assumed to be my eyes and saw the light that pulled the bezerkers away and my body." Artemis paused. "I looked further around and saw Butler restraining you, and I knew I had to stay put." After recounting the memory he looked up and said with a smile. "So I guess I brought you here to thank you for reminding me not to wander away."

Holly sat processing what Artemis had said. "You saved me as well as humanity that night. If you had let me I would have gone up on that podium." Holly replied with a soft smile. Artemis returned the smile saying, "I couldn't allow that, not only would it have completely altered my carefully wrought schemes." Holly rolled her eyes, but Artemis continued, "I couldn't do without you Holly." He finished, smiling.

As Artemis finished his sentence he met Holly's tender smile with a slight grin that turned to a grimace as his head exploded with memories, memories of his journey backwards through time. Though to Holly all she saw was Artemis get what appeared to be an incredibly inopportunely timed headache.

"Arty are you alright?" Holly asked, her concern plastered on her face. Artemis looked up and gave a kind of half smile, half grimace, and replied, "It's nice to see Jayjay safe in my own minds eye." Holly understood what had happened and punched him on the arm. "You should see him these days, No1 and Jayjay have been inseparable ever since they met." Artemis remembered Holly telling him of their adventures in time involving Hybras but he still couldn't picture it in his mind's eye yet.

After mulling over his memories he reviewed the one that caused his recall. Holly's words before she had given him his first kiss. 'There has to be a pattern here…' Artemis thought. A swift millisecond later he had it. "My memories are returning based on emotional triggers, my Pre mind wipe memories returned with my memory of death. The memory of our traveling through time was brought on by the prelude to my first kiss." he said oblivious to Holly's little start of surprise at the information, "Are there any other moments you haven't mentioned in your recounting of my life?"

Holly thought hard for a moment, she hadn't explained every experience to Artemis, there was a lot of information to impart, and since Foaly and Butler had been present she had skimped over some of the more personal details focusing instead on major events. Artemis inclined his head and waited patiently, his newest memories burning through his head, some made him feel elated, others guilty, even for an intellect as developed as his it made it somewhat hard to concentrate.

Holly pondered a minute more then said, "There are some events that could serve as triggers." She said evenly trying to mask her uncertain emotions. Artemis looked at her with determination burning in his gaze. "Then I believe we have work to do." He said smiling and standing offering his hand to Holly, she hoisted herself up and they walked back to the Manor. Artemis was happy, there was a plan, he could focus on that and work out this blitz of emotions after he had all his memories back. Holly was not necessarily in such high spirits, this current plan could prove disastrous to Artemis and her friendship with him, 'I have no idea how he will react to remembering mental disease.' Thought Holly as unpleasant memories of Artemis' Atlantis Complex came to the surface. She looked at Artemis as he strode towards a beckoning Butler who had two plates of steaming breakfast ready in his massive hands, 'How do I ensure that by exploring these triggers I don't take advantage of my best friend?' She wondered as she ascended the steps into Fowl Manor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Probing the Depths**

Butler had prepared a vegetarian breakfast that all the Fowls sans Artemis were now tucking into. As Butler looked up to see Artemis and Holly walking in to the kitchen Artemis Sr. and Angeline noticed his diverted gaze, they looked back towards the door to the kitchen and found Artemis with fresh recognition in his eyes. They leapt from their seats and embraced their son, Artemis Sr. regaining his composure first.

"What caused you to remember?" Artemis Sr. asked his happiness etched across his face.

Artemis extricated himself and said, "A dream restored my memory of what happened before the mind wipe. Also, Holly and I are in the process of unlocking further memories."

As Artemis said this Holly looked up to see Artemis' parents smiling down at her. And she found herself not entirely sure what to say. Artemis' father interjected before there was any awkward silence.

"We owe having our son back to you, you are always welcome in this house." He turned to look at his wife, then back to Holly with a slightly confused expression.

"Your LEP friends are welcome to use this house as a safe house for all your jaunts aboveground, though if what my wife has been saying is true then you all have been using these grounds as a staging area for some time. At least now you have the permission you need to get inside the house."

Angeline gave a tinkling laugh, "Timmy, that spell has been lifted, they no longer need permission though I'm sure they appreciate it." She finished winking at Holly.

They sat down and shared a meal of freshly prepared vegetables. Angeline and Artemis Sr. were talking about what functions they were attending, Artemis was trying to get Beckett to eat his finely scalloped potatoes, however he was mostly ending up covered in sauce as Beckett laughed. Juliet was talking to Myles about his most recent experiment. After everyone had been served Butler sat next to Holly and observed the Fowl family.

"He really has changed through all these years." He said musingly, watching Artemis play-wrestle Beckett's spoonful of potato into his mouth, however half of the spoonful landed on Artemis' pants. Artemis chuckled as Beckett laughed as though this spill was the funniest thing in the world.

"It's strange to see him not plotting or scheming." Holly said, watching Artemis take Beckett's hand and lead him to the nearby bathroom to wash off.

"For the past three days he has been absorbing a lot of new info, but being Artemis he is taking it all in stride." Butler sighed and then gave a half grin, "He was becoming more like this before the Atlantis complex goty its hold on him. More of his time was going into _THE PROJECT_ along with Myles and Beckett."

Holly remembered when Artemis had met Myles and Beckett for the first time in his new body. He had smiled and hugged them. But in later conversation confided that they were familiar but he had no memory of them.

"I guess I never really saw Artemis as a brother or a son he always was always so calculating when we were trying to save the world." Holly said, "Whenever we corresponded it was banter or for work or an emergency."

Butler nodded, "That sounds like Artemis alright."

Beckett walked back into the kitchen triumphantly followed by a soaked Artemis. Genius or no when Beckett got wet everyone in the vicinity got wet.

"I need to change I will be down in a moment." Artemis said, smiling at Beckett. He glanced at Holly before leaving for the relative safety and dryness of his room.

The rest of the meal was passed amicably with Artemis Sr. and Angeline asking Holly about the various adventures that she had shared with Artemis and Butler. Angeline had already told the majority of the stories to her husband but the fresh perspective brought new life to the old stories.

'It is taking him some time to dry off.' Holly thought, 'I will see what he has gotten into now, with our luck he will have found the next megalomaniac we have to take down in his washroom.'

"Excuse me, I am going to see if I can see what is taking Artemis so long, he may require a bit of encouragement." She said lightly tapping on the neutrino that hung from her hip. Artemis Sr. looked horrified but calmed when he saw Butler chuckle.

"Sounds like a good idea he has been gone a while… when you get back you will have to tell us your side of how you all met." Artemis Sr. said.

Holly turned away, wincing. "That story might be a little awkward to tell around the breakfast table." She said to the further mirth of Butler and Angeline.

Holly ascended the stairs, reaching the top she went to Artemis' room and knocked.

"Come in." came a muffled reply.

When Holly entered there was nobody in the main room, but Artemis must have heard her come in. He came out of his bathroom, hair still slightly tousled from drying off but apart from that, decent.

He smiled saying, "Beckett has a nigh on superhuman ability to make other people and himself a mess." Flicking the remains of the sauce Beckett had been slinging out of his ear.

"I would have thought seeing your brothers would have at least triggered a partial recall of something." Holly said.

"I am not sure why they have not, I am thinking there have been less dramatic stimuli involving them though, if I am not mistaken there is still some stimuli we can draw upon." Artemis replied looking pensive.

An idea struck Holly. "We could try a probe!" She said excitedly.

"That could possibly work, do you have a memory in mind? It should elicit an emotional response. It might be helpful if the memory had a magical association." Artemis said, his brow furrowed as he thought out all the steps.

Holly summoned the memory that was unique among her experiences, in that it never actually happened.

"Kneel down a moment, I swear you are more mud man than mud boy these days." Holly said with a smirk.

"If Foaly is to be believed then I am entirely a mud man now. He kept me in the chrysalis a little longer than was necessary." Artemis replied with a crooked smile of his own, "My intuition tells me that despite being a technical genius he probably burns everything he bakes."

Holly chucked, walking up to Artemis who was now at face level. "I would guess you were a good deal harder to make correctly than a pastry so I wouldn't trust your intuition on that one."

Holly placed her forehead against Artemis' looking into his incredibly blue eyes before closing hers and remembering from Artemis' perspective as the enchanted blade sunk into her chest. Focusing hard on the memory she sent out a magical pulse through Artemis' head. At first it was silent as they both opened their eyes then Artemis cringed as a flood of memories brought on another headache. Holly, recognizing what was happening, backed up allowing Artemis to stand.

"I need to meditate and organize my thoughts they are rather chaotic at the moment." Artemis said analytically, then he smiled, "I am grateful for you being here, Holly, you really are my best friend."

Giving her brief embrace, he broke away to the bed sitting in the lotus position, his brow was serene with no lines of stress evident as he began to organize the massive amount of information he had not yet addressed today. He needed to focus on building up his past rather than focus on the confusing thoughts and emotions of the present.

"Arty, I am going to finish eating my breakfast, do you want me to brin…" Holly started, but her communicator beeped, interrupting her.

Stepping into the hall she flipped open the old communicator, one of the few models they still possessed after the crash. "Holly!" said the eccentric centaur on the other end of the line.

Holly grinned at the communicator, "Hello Foaly, I assume this isn't a personal call."

Foaly sighed, "Sadly no, I have been 'ordered' by trouble to get you back below ground."

"He couldn't have beeped me himself?" Holly said, eyebrow raised.

"He is more than a little busy trying to restore society as we know it." Foaly said, "If he isn't heading teams to secure the distant settlements he is kicking goblin riots to the curb. He is beginning to resemble Root these days, though thankfully he hasn't taken up cigars."

Foaly's usually cover of cheeky arrogance broke for a moment. "How's everyone's favorite mud boy?"

"He still has some way to go but he is remembering more and more. We had a few breakthroughs today, he is processing this much faster than I anticipated." Holly said with a soft smile.

Foaly looked unsurprised, "Our friend never ceases to amaze, If you think he is capable I want him down here to run some tests, I need to make sure the clone body is running up to spec as it were."

Holly's face brightened for a moment then it was replaced with a more neutral expression. "He will most likely be willing to come," Her face broke into a grin, "I just wouldn't suggest keeping him at the Argon clinic."

After the communicator was switched off Holly became lost in thought. She had been noticing some, irregular emotions as of late, concerning a certain mud boy, wait, mud man.

'D'arvit! Now is not the time to be getting emotional in _that_ way.' She thought descending the steps, 'He needs a friend right now, I can't even think of anything past that until he is determinedly alright and himself.'

She still could not deny that she was happy to have the opportunity to bring him with her. After six months of worry and uncertainty, to see the Artemis she had come to know return piece by piece was undoubtedly a good feeling. She shook her head.

'I need to focus on doing what is right for him and right now that is ensuring he has all his memories.' She thought entering the kitchen.

"Where is Arty?" asked Angeline kindly, pulling herself away from Myles and his flash cards to look at Holly.

"He had a breakthrough and is currently organizing his thoughts last time I checked." Holly said, she took a deep breath, "I was hoping to borrow him for a few days so our head nerd could make sure he is doing alright."

Artemis Sr. and Angeline looked surprised but Butler nodded saying, "Foaly would be the best person to take him to," he looked at Artemis' parents, "He has the best functioning medical equipment above or under the world, he would be in good hands."

Looking comforted Artemis' parents begrudgingly nodded, even if they missed their boy they wanted what was best for him.

The next day, Holly uncovered the small shuttle resting on one of the parapets, Artemis was hugging his family and Butler goodbye below. Entering the shuttle Holly started it up and turned on the shield. She brought the shuttle around and popped the side hatch which Artemis clambered through to the copilot's chair. He looked over and smiled at her.

"I am ready for lift off Holly." Artemis said. He glanced out the window to see the sad faces of his family. Noticing this, Holly put a hand on his shoulder.

"You will be back before you know it, they want you to be okay, we all want you to be okay." She said comfortingly.

Artemis looked back at her, smiled and gave a meek thumbs-up. If he was remembering correctly from their previous adventures he was about to have a hard time not vomiting. Holly grinned wrapping her fingers around the controls and took off exulting in the thrill of flight.

"Hold onto your lunch mud boy." She said grinning wickedly, "It's Haven or bust."


	4. Chapter 4

**Haven or Bust**

The shuttle containing Artemis and Holly careened around the last bend in the chute towards the LEP section of the Haven shuttle port. The speed was well over safety limits, and coming as close as they were to a chute wall was completely against regulations, just the way Holly liked it. Grinning like a fairy gone mad she trimmed up her speed and corrected her trajectory just in time to hit the landing rails at an acceptable speed. As the shuttle was shunted along the rails into a docking area she glanced over at Artemis, His face was even more chalk white than usual, but otherwise he was unharmed. Slapping her harness, it flew off, Artemis stood up behind her a little weak in the knees but he swiftly composed himself. She keyed the exit and stepped into the shuttle port.

As Artemis hopped out of the shuttle he was met by the sight of Foaly and Trouble standing on the platform to receive him. Foaly was all smiles, albeit somewhat pompous ones, meanwhile Trouble was more neutral. Artemis was shocked however when he was the first to step forward, giving a cordial greeting to Holly then moving past her to stand in front of him.

"We have had our disagreements before Fowl, but after this last disaster, there is no denying that you are a friend of the People." He said, Artemis extended his hand, which Trouble shook once and then let go.

"Commander, I am glad to have gained your confidence, let us hope that I shouldn't have to prove my devotion to the cause in such a drastic way again." Artemis replied.

This warranted a wry smile from Trouble before his professionalism cleaned the expression from his face. He turned to face Holly.

"Holly, thank you for escorting the Mud boy..." Trouble started but Foaly piped in, "Well technically his body is around age 20 or so, so he would really be called Mud Man."

Trouble rounded on Foaly turning a few shades less red than Root used to achieve when he got his temper going. Unlike Root he regained control and turned back to Holly.

"Captain, I am assigning you to be Artemis' police escort throughout Haven, try not to let him out of your sight that is when I hear he gets into the stickiest situations." Trouble said with measured tones.

Holly clicked her heels together, "Yes sir."

Trouble nodded and then broke away leaving Holly standing at attention with Foaly and Artemis looking at her with raised eyebrows. After he was out of earshot she dropped her posture into something more comfortable and glowered at the two geniuses.

"Ever since he got engaged to Frond he has been acting a little odd," Holly said sheepishly.

Artemis only smirked and Foaly gave a whinny, seconds later they were clutching their arms as Holly delivered two punches into their shoulders.

"Fine, fine let's get the first day of this test nonsense over with." Foaly said trying to rub feeling back in to his numb limb. Artemis did a double take.

"The first day of tests? I thought we were going to do some routine scans." Artemis said, surprised and a little accusatory. Foaly raised his hands defensively.

"I just want to make sure all is well and see if my guesswork that went into making your new body was spot on or not." He said, moving, clopping off towards the exit to the shuttle port, "I'm sure all will be fine."

"Come on Arty, nothing too invasive, just some scans and blood work." Holly said a mischievous smile playing out across her face as she turned to follow Foaly, "If you're good I might get you a lollipop."

For the second time in his life Artemis found himself muttering, "I don't like lollipops…"

He quickened his pace to catch up with the elf who was still chuckling at her lollipop comment. As he reached her side he slowed down to her pace, she looked over still chuckling to see Artemis walking beside her. He appeared to have recovered his composure.

"Where will I be staying for however long I am here?" Artemis asked as they marched past the line of shuttles. As they walked up behind Foaly, Artemis began noticing fairies ogling him as he walked past. It wasn't common that he was the tallest person in the room let alone a city.

Foaly looked at the road as he said, "The official report is that you will be staying in a secure room at Police Plaza." He and Holly shared a glance, "You will actually be what you humans call 'couch surfing' at Holly's apartment."

Both Holly and Foaly looked at Artemis to see his response. All they observed was a shrug and a slight grin.

"It is sound logic," Artemis said in a tone slightly reminiscent of Mr. Spock, "If my presence initiates any sort of event then all the action will be located around police plaza where there is the highest level of security to deal with said situation. Meanwhile I will be far removed from any activity." He paused for a quick breath before continuing, "However if it were somehow discovered that I was at Holly's residence I would be in the hands of the best the LEP has to offer." He finished the unsurprised looks on their faces told him they fully expected this monologue.

"Phrasing eh Holly?" Foaly said cracking a toothy grin at the Captain.

Holly shot Foaly a glare then turned to the oncoming car which, once they boarded, automatically headed straight to Police plaza.

For the next four hours Artemis was poked, prodded, scanned, and otherwise made to feel like a lab rat.

"If you feel the need to run in a gigantic wheel it is past the front desk and to the left" said Foaly sarcastically when Artemis voiced this particular feeling. This caused Artemis to be uncharacteristically quiet throughout the procedures, only piping up to chat with Foaly about the various changes occurring around Haven and the world. The People had been busy, clearing wreckage and restoring power to the city in the months since his temporary death.

Finally it was done, microneedles ceased extracting blood out of Artemis' arm and every scan Foaly could think of had been passed through his body. He left the lab and was met by two armed officers, one of which was obviously complaining to the other about something trivial while the other looked fondly down at his neutrino as if flirting with the idea of stunning himself to be rid of his tiresome coworker for a few hours. Artemis was hurried by the professional LEP officer with who he assumed to be Grub Kelp in tow. He was given some cam foil and rough instructions. After he was covered, he was swiftly moved to a waiting car that sped him and the officers away through streets of Haven.

All around there were newly fabricated structures standing next to demolished ruins. Scenes of reconstruction abounded as they passed through a business center that had been hit particularly hard by the recent crash. The scenes of destruction grew less and less pronounced as they sped into a residential district. It wasn't long before the car stopped and disgorged what appeared to be two officers holding nothing in particular by the arms as they marched their imaginary prisoner up to the apartment of one Holly Short who swiftly opened the door and let nothing inside, giving a quick nod, the officers went back to the car and sped off.

Inside Artemis was pulling off the cam foil suit. "Hello again and in answer to your inevitable question, it was not the least bit enjoyable apart from getting actual updated news for a change. I had no idea that America and China were at war."

Holly sighed, "The world is blown apart and the Mud Men fight over the ashes."

Artemis frowned, "We aren't all murderous, that is unless I house some truly despicable urges somewhere in my recently rehoused soul."

Holly looked up at him and gave another tender smile that he hadn't seen since they were at Fowl Manor.

"Maybe you had those urges at one point, but I believe you are about as decent as a mud man can get." She said with a slight blush creeping into her pointed ears.

She broke the moment just as Artemis realized there had been a moment.

"What do you want to eat? Running in a hamster wheel all day in Foaly's lab must get pretty tiring, especially for you." Holly said, smirking her moment of openness away.

Artemis squeezed the bridge of his nose. "So, you heard about that particular comment? I had rather hoped Foaly hadn't messaged that to every Fairy with a communicator under the world."

Holly winked, "Just to me and Mulch as far as I know."

Artemis groaned. He moved into the kitchen where Holly was leaning against what looked like a fairy sized oven.

"I am rather famished, and I feel food would be the perfect distraction from the thought of Mulch imagining me in a hamster wheel." Artemis started, smiling as he leaned against the wall knocking his head against a low hanging light fixture. "You are the Haven native, what should be done about dinner?" He finished raising an eyebrow at the elf across the room from him.

"I have a hunch we might need to order delivery." Holly said looking him up and down, "It isn't like I can take you to a café."

Roughly an hour later they were eating some of the greasiest lumps of dough that had ever been mistakenly called pizza. Artemis politely refused a second helping as did Holly, the cheese had congealed by that point anyway, making what they had eaten stick to their ribs and what hadn't been eaten inedible. Holly set to making a space for Artemis to sleep, pulling out what appeared to be a hideaway bed from the wall. It was six inches too short but it was better than the floor.

"So Artemis the night is still relatively young, I have PPTV and a small V-Net port, but I-" Holly started but Artemis was swift to respond.

"I would be incredibly grateful to be able to catch up on some news." He said eagerly.

Holly nodded turning on the old machine. First Artemis checked Foaly's blog Horse sense. Speed reading the updates he then went to the various news organizations of Haven. He tried to access human news but all was black, the internet was down, or at least crippled. He pushed away from the desk and began to organize the massive wealth of information he had just absorbed. After a quick few moments he turned to Holly a smile parting his lips.

"Well, I have no plans tonight, I leave the entertainment to you my friend." He said.

Holly found herself thinking of a kind of entertainment that Artemis probably didn't have in mind. However she quickly snapped out of this rather inappropriate line of thought.

Holly pointed to a case full of data chits which Artemis examined. Selecting the movie made to catalogue their exploits in the Bwa-Kell rebellion he grinned.

"Obviously I am expecting a completely non-embellished tale of the true events." Artemis said sarcasm dripping from every word.

Holly left for a moment leaving Artemis on the couch by himself watching the opening credits. As the movie began Holly returned in a tank top and shorts, Artemis paused, glancing at her and hid his blushing face by turning impassively to the screen and making a sardonic comment about the CGI version of himself. Holly however noticed his glance and smiled to herself.

As they watched the last scene, the buxom actor who was laughably trying to portray Holly tossed the coin into the air and shot a hole through it and walked away as the computer generated Artemis caught it as his artificial features resembled one of dumb shock. Artemis turned to his friend who was curled up in the cushions next to him.

"I hope that expression has never actually crossed my face." He said eliciting a grin from Holly.

"You have looked surprised before but never like that." She admitted laughing.

Artemis smiled for a moment then his brow furrowed.

"Holly thank you for letting me stay at your apartment, also these past few days, I have really appreciated all your help, even when I couldn't remember who you were." Artemis said, his gratitude evident in his tone.

Holly put her hand on his shoulder, he tensed for a second then relaxed.

"I have missed you Arty, plus you are my best friend, what kind of friend would I be if I left you to wander the world not knowing who you are?" Holly said grinning.

Artemis turned to her and in an uncharacteristic display of affection gave Holly an uneasy one armed hug.

Holly struck by the gesture hugged him back, standing up as they released each other.

"You have a long day of tests and running in hamster wheels ahead," she smirked, "You will probably need your rest." She said turning to head to her room.

"Wait Holly," said Artemis in an almost rushed tone. "Remind me of what I still need to remember."

Holly knew he remembered precisely what he had yet to remember for himself. But she responded anyway.

"You still need to remember facing off against Opal for the second time and the incident involving Turnball Root." She said, avoiding talking about his mental illness instead focusing on the major players. "Also you need to remember the days that came before…" her voice trailed off as Artemis appeared lost in thought.

He looked up with a look in his eye, he knew what she had refrained from saying, but no matter what, he wanted to remember.

"I have somewhere I wish to visit tomorrow before I go off for more tests." He said resolutely, Holly nodded.

"We can manage that." She said as she once again moved towards her bedroom, giving him a sidelong glance as she went.

"Goodnight Arty."

"Goodnight Holly."

Artemis lay down on the hideaway bed. He tried to clear his mind but it was still full of chestnut skin, mismatched eyes, and auburn hair as he drifted towards unconsciousness.

'I used to blame puberty for these emotions but now I am well out of that phase due to Foaly's machinations, Thank God. However Holly is my friend, and probably doesn't need another drooling male making passes at her. Plus I have problems a bit larger than a romantic inclination.' He thought as sleep finally took him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Memorial**

Artemis awoke from what had been a confusing dream, filled with parts of memories real and imagined.

'Sleep is one way that brains organize information, given what I have experienced lately I suspect that future dreams will be very confused,' Thought Artemis in his usual analytical fashion.

Before opening his eyes he cast his other senses about, he could hear a rustling coming from his right that was most likely Holly moving about and getting ready. Outside he could hear the sounds of mag-cars zipping along the street. He took in a deep breath through his nose and caught a whiff of what seemed to be grass and citrus. Smiling and opening his eyes to search for the source of the pleasant aroma, he looked to his right as Holly rounded the corner.

"Rise and shine Mud Boy!" She exclaimed sending a nearby pillow flying into Artemis' surprised face.

"Was that entirely necessary?" Artemis said, grumbling as he slid off the bed.

Holly winked at him, mischievously, "Nope."

With that she rounded the corner to the kitchen leaving a disheveled Artemis to follow her. Artemis walked to the kitchen where Holly was taking two nettle smoothies from the refrigerator. As he walked in she looked around and tossed him one. Being far from graceful, Artemis fumbled the smoothie mid air and barely managed to grab a hold of it before it hit the ground. Holly chuckled as Artemis' face colored slightly.

"It seems that while this body is entirely new, physical ineptitude is something that you just can't get rid of." Artemis said crossly.

Holly smiled replying, "It is still you, even if your body is different."

Artemis stared pensively at his smoothie as his mouth formed a sad grin, "How can we say I am Artemis Fowl if I don't remember huge swathes of my own life?"

Holly paused for a moment, and then strode across the room taking Artemis' hand. Leading him around the corner she led him to her bedroom. Artemis was panicked, he didn't know what to expect next. She turned him to face her chest of drawers, on top there were holo-pictures of Holly's parents and a picture or two of Holly next to Commander Root. Foremost amongst the pictures was one unmistakably of Butler, Artemis and Her. It appeared as if they were sitting or rather Holly was sitting next to and Butler was kneeling down next to a plain faced Artemis who was wearing what appeared to be a hospital uniform.

Artemis turned to Holly, "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," Holly said, squeezing his hand tightly, "Just remember."

Artemis did remember, he remembered terror of the number four, his normally logical self supplanted by a legion of behavioral tics, and Orion. His head ached as the memories of hours of electroshock therapy entered his mind leaving behind stinging aftershocks, though the original stimulus was long gone. After about a minute he opened his eyes to find that he was sitting down on Holly's bed massaging his temples. Holly was sitting next to him on the bed looking concerned, she noticed his eyes open.

"Arty…?" She said noticing his eyes move to her. She took his other hand in hers.

"Hark, fairest maiden!" Artemis said, "Your beauty is truly an astounding sight for sore eyes."

Holly recoiled, withdrawing her hands from Artemis'

"You again…" She said dejectedly, she was seriously considering grabbing the buzz baton from beneath her bed, one little shock and Artemis would again be the dominant personality.

Artemis' mouth twitched then split into his trademark vampiric smile. Holly, seeing this proceeded to leap towards him swinging her tiny fists with viscous speed. Holly punched him twice on the arm. Artemis' smile froze, replaced by a grimace.

"I try for some humor and that is the reception I receive? Tough crowd." Artemis chided as Holly tried to cool down.

"I thought that your returning memories had triggered a relapse or something." Holly said in a disgruntled manner, "You really shouldn't be surprised that I hit you after making me think you were Orion."

Artemis' looked a little guilty, but also pleased with himself. Looking around Holly's room Artemis observed what appeared to be a print of the Fairy Thief hanging in a simple frame as well as the pictures with Holly and Julius Root.

"I can remember that Root is dead, and I can remember him up to the mind wipe," Artemis said somewhat distantly. "You told me Opal killed him when she tried to send a probe to Haven." He closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I just can't pull up my own memory."

He opened his eyes.

"Holly, I know what I need to see to remember."

They cleaned up and left as the artificial light of the fake sky above came in through the windows.

"You are a wonderful host Holly but I must confess your shower is quite cramped," Artemis said, rubbing the crick in his neck, because that is what you get when you put 5 feet 10 inches of mud man in a shower designed for a 3 foot 1 inch fairy. Holly raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think they had anyone over four feet in mind when they designed my apartment." Holly said with a slight grin as she directed her mag-car towards the recycling vats.

Artemis and Holly stepped out of the car, that is to say Holly stepped out and Artemis unfolded from his seat. They made their way past memorials dating back hundreds of years, the faces of dead fairies peered out from memorial plaques along the recyclers. Holly and Artemis grew quiet as they made their way through this particularly peaceful section of Haven. Artemis did not need to wear the cam foil suit. The few who stood at plaques paid them little to no heed as they made their way to the LEP memorial section.

Root's plaque was easy to find, standing beside wing commander Vinyaya's on the smooth pavement. His ruddy complexion and serious expression were conveyed nigh on perfectly in the image, the only thing that was missing was his commanding, stern, yet reassuring air. He and Artemis had never been friends, however they had respected each other, but sadly he experienced no rush of memories from after the mind wipe. He was straining to remember but he just couldn't draw up the memory. He felt a small hand slip into his. He looked down to see Holly looking up at him, her eyes were a little red but otherwise dry, her expression one of sadness. Artemis kneeled down next to Holly in front of the memorial.

"I thought this would have worked," he said glancing at her face, noting the pained expression. "I am sorry for bringing you here… it cannot be easy." He finished somewhat awkwardly.

Holly smiled squeezed his hand, and let go, looking towards the face of the fairy that had been a friend and mentor. Artemis looked on, still kneeling next to Holly, they stayed for a moment or two more then began to walk away. There were tests to be conducted and hamster wheels to run in.


	6. Chapter 6

_Before I continue I must say thank you, I didn't expect to be so heartened by all of you who read, provided feedback, and followed. I hope the story continues to delight. I also should mention that I am grateful to other fanfiction writers for providing ideas and inspiration._

**Spinning Yarns, Spinning Wheels**

Holly and Artemis walked back to the mag-car in somber silence. It was only after they had started to drive away that conversation resumed.

"So Arty, ready for more needles and swabs." Holly said cheekily trying to lighten the mood as they came to a stop in front of a mag-bus dropping off passengers.

Artemis sighed, "Foaly collected his samples yesterday, assuming that some tests require a culture to be grown I suspect that today is going to be more focused on analyzing those results." His aloof composure cracked for a moment, "I would also assume there to be some element of physical exertion today, Foaly will want to make sure that everything operates correctly."

Holly nodded along until Artemis mentioned the physical exertion, at that she smirked in a way that would have made Artemis proud if here weren't so busy commiserating.

"And here I was thinking the mention of hamster wheels was all a joke." She said chuckling.

Artemis grimaced as the mag-car began to accelerate again. Zooming past the mag-bus they could just now make out the ruined stonework of police plaza.

"Well Holly, what are you going to do today?" Artemis enquired, trying to shift the attention away from any possibility of physical duress.

Holly rolled her eyes, "Probably traffic and patrol duty, I didn't exactly make many friends by refusing to come back underground when you came back to life." She said smiling at him sheepishly.

Artemis put his hand on her shoulder, "I appreciate it Holly, I really do. Without you I would most likely be trying to return many of my memories to no avail." He finished, looking grateful.

Holly could not deny, she enjoyed how close Artemis and her had become, but she also couldn't resist good banter. Looking at his hand on her shoulder and giving a halfhearted smirk she shrugged, causing his hand to fall away.

"Not going soft on me are you Fowl?" She said with that same halfhearted smirk plastered to her face.

Artemis chuckled, "I thought that was the whole point of me attaining a conscience, to become a little 'softer' among other things." He said in a bemused fashion, giving Holly a sidelong glance.

This almost flirtatious conversation intruiged Holly but alas they had reached their destination. As they exited the mag-car it sped off to a hastily erected parking garage nearby. Artemis had his camfoil suit on as they ascended the cracked pavement to police plaza. Once inside, Artemis shed his cam foil suit and followed Holly to Foaly's lab.

As the door slid open they were met by Foaly and Trouble.

"Finally you guys get here, late start or something?" Foaly asked almost too innocently, raising his eyebrows to comic heights.

A vein pulsed in Holly's forehead, however intrigued Artemis remembered his bruised shoulder from the day before.

"We paid our respects to an old friend." Artemis said solemnly.

Foaly opened his mouth as if to respond but realizing who Artemis was talking about, his snappy retort died in his throat. A somewhat awkward moment passed between all present. But Trouble decided to break the silence.

"Well mud-whelp, you are coming with me today, I have a gym and some sensors that have your name on them." He said with a look of anticipation.

Artemis was almost too shocked to respond, almost, "You? I would think that the commander of LEPrecon has better things to do than run tests for Foaly."

Trouble actually smiled, admittedly it was a sardonic one, but it was still a smile. "Well it isn't as if Foaly could handle any sort of physical examination."

Artemis smirked at Foaly then looked back to Trouble, "I do not believe I am adequately dressed in gym attire but I assume you have a solution in mind, lead on Commander."

Trouble led Artemis towards the remains of the gym meanwhile Foaly clopped up beside Holly.

"Now that you are done guarding your beloved Arty for the time being, wanna grab some lunch? There is a delightful bistro not too far from here that serves grub that's almost edible." Foaly said with a smirk.

One arm-deadening whollop later Holly and Foaly were walking along the damaged pavement on their way to lunch.

"I don't see what you see in him anyway, he is entirely too tall and short lived, did I mention he kidnapped you?" Foaly said with a whinney.

Holly sighed, exasperated, this is what she got for confiding in Foaly before consulting Caballine.

"And not to mention he is always wearing those suits, I always imagined you were more of a jumpsuit sort of elf." Foaly continued mirthfully enjoying the chance to fire off such good conversational ammo at his friend. The fact that it concerned a certain mud boy he was fond of and held a grudging respect for was icing on the proverbial cake.

Holly sighed, as she leaned towards the road trying to see the bistro that was supposedly just down the street. This walk was feeling much longer than promised.

"Look, I've explained it probably about ten times by now, we have been through a lot, and Artemis is not the person he used to be." Holly said in an exasperated tone, "We have come to rely on one another," her tone became softer, "Also, I realize it seems a bit odd, but I didn't realize how much he meant to me until after he was gone."

Foaly paused in the relentless ribbing of his friend, this was a sincere outpouring of emotion from Holly Short, a rare occurrence in a decade, but ever since the clone had grown into a recognizable Artemis, more of her emotions had come to the surface. Centaurs didn't make many friends over their long lives, he realized it was time for him to 'cut the crap' so to speak.

"Holly, I am much more acquainted with numbers and sums but if Caballine has taught me anything it's that honesty is always the best policy," Foaly started, but Holly chuckled,

"Well of course Foaly, you shouldn't be lying to anyone who could take you down with one appendage," She said smiling, she remembered all too well the time Caballine had kicked her through a wall.

Foaly chuckled, replying, "If physical harm is a motivating factor then Artemis is sure to divulge how he feels, but I would make sure he is in the right place, he may be a genius and he probably reciprocates your affection, but he is still figuring out parts of his past, So whatever you do, do your best to take his feelings into account."

Holly looked shocked, Foaly never was one to rant about anything except his carrot supply and any ridiculously high tech inventions he had recently patented. Foaly caught the look of surprise on Holly's face.

"No need to look at me like I have some sort of fifth leg, you tend to get good at understanding relationships after a few years of successful marriage." Foaly said pompously.

"I guess I was expecting you to say that it was a bad idea, what with us being thousands of miles away from one another on a consistent basis and that he is a human and I'm a fairy." Holly admitted holding open the door to the bistro that was in fact named The Bistro.

Foaly smirked as he walked, or rather strutted confidently into the small space, "All interesting and arguable points but I didn't really give them much thought, knowing you I wasn't expecting to hear about any conventional romances anyway. You don't exactly play nice with protocol."

Holly smiled mischievously, "No," she said, "No I don't"

Meanwhile, back at police plaza, Artemis was cursing his lightweight frame and slim musculature, when he got back to Butler he resolved to do something about his crippling weakness. Trouble was having him run an obstacle course set up in the mostly ruined gym. Normally this wouldn't be too bad but the infernal commander was running behind him, not allowing his pace to falter.

"Don't… you… have… better… things… to… do…?" Said Artemis, panting.

"Haha, Not for another hour sad to say, until then I'm stuck watching this pitiful display." Trouble said, not even out of breath.

Artemis had been given an LEP jumpsuit that didn't fit correctly and cut into his legs, he had tied off the arms around his waist leaving his skinny chest bare as stretching the jumpsuit any further would have been a mistake. He scrabbled over low walls and crawled below nets all the while his body screamed for more oxygen than his comically large, whooping breaths could provide.

"I… need … to… rest." Artemis said laboring through each word as he tiredly jogged up a steep ramp.

"Like hell you do, Foaly's data notwithstanding I am doing you a favor, you are really out of shape." Trouble said as Artemis shambled over to a rope and tried to climb to a raised platform.

Artemis was planning on spitting out a witty retort to the effect of, 'I didn't know that causing me to have a heart attack was a favor,' but he was too busy trying to breathe as he struggled up the rope. The only thing that kept him from obstinately refusing to perform this exercise was that Foaly essentially was running stress tests on Artemis' new body. Still, this was not going to be fun.

After running, jumping, and otherwise making a fool of himself Artemis collapsed onto the floor of the gym with Trouble standing over him.

"It's seems strange to me now that you used to be public enemy number one." Said Trouble, bemused.

Artemis propped himself up on his hands, "I haven't been your enemy for a long time, though after the workout I'm fairly certain you all have it out for me." Artemis said sarcastically, or as sarcastically as you can when taking in as much air as possible.

"I admit, at one point there is nothing I would have liked more than to give you a good roasting with a neutrino, but lately I would have to say we have more to gain from working together." Trouble said offering his hand to the floored human.

Artemis gratefully grabbed hold of the proffered limb and struggled to his feet, "I'm exceptionally glad you have chosen to see past my previous flaws, as a sign of our newfound friendship promise me never to run me through an obstacle course again." Artemis said, a little sarcastically and a little desperately.

Trouble chuckled, "No promises but in the mean time, you should go get showered, I will arrange transport for you after you are done."

Normally Artemis would have argued but he was tired and sore and frankly just wanted to sleep until his legs stopped hurting. A contented smile crossed his face as he limped towards the showers, thinking of how nice it would be to finish his smoothie from this morning, sleep, and relax with his favorite person above or below ground.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is my Favorite Couch**

Artemis was again hushed into Holly's apartment almost tumbling as his exhausted frame was pushed over the threshold, the cam foil suit snagging on the door as it closed. Artemis stood up and dusted himself off, observing the empty apartment before him. His legs wobbled as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water from the space efficient tap, Artemis kept on refilling and draining his glass which would have been quite the sight to see if the glass hadn't been comically small in his human sized hands. His thirst temporarily sated he wandered back into the living room and sank into the couch that resembled more of a love seat to somebody of his size.

Artemis groaned, he ached everywhere, now that he had sat down waves of pain emanated from his overtired muscles. With each second his resolve to become more physically fit became more strongly pronounced. There would be time for that later, however, now he was so tired he probably wouldn't be able to move even if Mulch were on the other side of the room with an open bum flap facing his direction. Artemis slowly drifted off to sleep enjoying how the apartment seemed to smell of citrus and grass, at one point he might have catalogued that information but now was a time for rest.

Holly was annoyed, she realized she had to take her licks for her flaunting of standard operating procedure, but that didn't make goblin thugs and tourists any better to deal with. She sighed as she realized she would rather patrol Haven for weeks than face yet another tribunal. She pushed open the door to her apartment exhaling heavily. The first sight that greeted Holly's eyes was Artemis sprawled in an undignified manner on her couch. Holly smiled at the sight as she strode up next to him. His brow was smoothed of the lines that accompanied his never ending scheming and his mouth lay slightly open. She sat down next to him.

"Arty…" she said softly trying to wake him up with a gentle but firm shake.

To his credit Artemis murmured, "Holl…egh..." before he rolled in his slumber and trapped Holly beneath a slight, pale, arm.

Holly froze, the mud man's arm was haphazardly thrown across her lap, meanwhile the mud man it was attached to was slumped against the couch obviously exhausted from the days exercises. Holly's first instinct was to push off the arm, but there was a small niggling part of her that enjoyed the contact, it was this second softer voice that won out for once as she settled down and sank into the couch.

Outside the artificial sky was darkening overhead, the waning artificial light cast long shadows across the room from the apartment's two windows. The light began creeping along Holly's arm, moving towards Artemis' face. A few strands of his usually perfectly groomed hair fell carelessly across his face, as he breathed steadily. Holly carefully moved his hair out of his face, tucking it behind his pale ear. She sat there for a while considering what to do, all the while the room grew dimmer with the dying light. She sighed, it figured that Artemis was in what was undoubtedly one of the few situations of his life that could be viewed as romantic, and there he was sleeping it away. Giving a bemused smile, Holly wriggled a little closer to her human friend, slumping down in the couch until her head was roughly level with Artemis'. She chuckled lightly, he must have been extremely tired to fall asleep in this position as it was incredibly uncomfortable. Gently moving Artemis' arm she sat up. He murmured as his eyes fluttered open, seeing Holly he smiled rather genially, then as more of his mental acuity returned to him he became neutral again as he rose into a sitting position rubbing his neck. He looked at Holly with a smirk.

"Remind me to never sleep in that position again, my neck feels awful." Artemis complained.

"Tough it out mud man, Trouble ran you hard then?" Holly said with a cheeky grin crossing her face.

Artemis groaned, "He took me around the obstacle course approximately 4 or 5 times." He said with a grimace.

Holly chuckled, giving Artemis a light punch on his arm. "Approximately? I would have thought you would know how many steps you took along the way," she said.

Artemis rolled his eyes, slumping back into the couch, "Normally I most likely would but exhaustion has a way of causing memory to get inconsistent." He said tiredly.

He looked up into Holly's face, cracking a crooked grin, "That seems to be a theme in my life recently." He finished, his face falling as Holly winced. "I apologize Holly, I was merely trying to jest, though it appears to have been in bad taste." He said, crestfallen.

"No need to apologize Arty, I guess that after you came back I have been so happy for what you have remembered that I forget you haven't remembered it all." Holly said almost in a rush.

Artemis gave his friend a quizzical look, it wasn't like Holly to have outpourings of emotions, and maybe he had finally ascended the ladder of their friendship to the point where they could speak more openly. Either way what he did next was crucial. All of these thoughts processed in the genius' brain in the split second it took him to act.

Reaching over he scooped up her small hand in his large one and squeezed it. Holly looked shocked, Artemis had never been overly physically demonstrative before, her heart leapt at the contact.

"Holly, you have been my best friend for some time now, I am sorry that you endured hardship on my behalf, I owe so much to you my friend." He said in measured tones, now was not the time to go confessing all he felt for the elf before him. "There is one perk that comes with dying, it provides perspective, and looking back I know that I wouldn't be who I am now without you." Artemis said, finishing with a sincere smile that had become much more familiar to Holly lately.

"Thanks Arty, that makes me better." Holly said, her voice husky.

Artemis saw a glint in her eye as she shifted on the couch, leaning against him with her shoulder except instead of bumping into him and then rebounding to her own personal space as she usually did she leaned further, snaking an arm around his back so it was more of a snuggle than anything else. Artemis had a deep understanding of social etiquette, he had even written romance novels under a pseudonym, but it appeared that when actually faced with what could only be described as romantic contact he found his academic understanding was woefully inadequate.

He jerkily settled back into the couch causing a wry chuckle to emanate from Holly. His usual flash of neurons didn't occur, he found himself feeling very warm about his neck and cheeks and was wondering where to put his hands. He settled his hands awkwardly on the armrest and Holly's hip. She looked up at his blushing face, and grinned.

"So mud man, what do you wanna watch?" She said nonchalantly.

"erhhh… I don't really have a preference." Artemis managed to stammer out. He cursed his lack of experience with the fairer sex, but more than that he cursed himself for stammering.

Holly picked up the remote and flipped on the television, commenting about how there was not much on as she flipped through the channels.

The artificial dawn was causing Haven to come alive, mag-cars zipped along the recently repaired streets as the whirring noises of construction drones rent the air. Inside Holly's apartment Artemis stirred from his sleep, he was slumped against the couch where the armrest met the back, across his chest sprawled Holly her hot breath flowing across his neck. Artemis had never really expected this sort of situation to arise and thus he had to start from scratch when deciding what to do. It wasn't unpleasant by any stretch of the imagination, Holly's smell invaded his nose and her head rose and fell as he breathed. Artemis shook his head lightly.

'My current thoughts are more befitting Orion.' Artemis thought pinching the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn't resting lightly on his friend's side.

Then again Orion had integrated with him and was formed of the parts of Artemis he had rejected before the Complex took hold. Artemis' line of thought was interrupted as his friend stirred hazel and blue eyes peering blearily up at him, her short auburn locks frizzed slightly by sleep.

"You had better get to work on that fitness regimen Arty." Holly said rubbing her cheek, "You are a really boney pillow." She said giving a mocking wink as she stood up, stretched in a feline fashion, then walked towards the bathroom. As she walked away Artemis stayed in the same position he had woken up in, taking a second to process what had transpired. Reviewing the events in his head,

'It appears that, after examining the social cues and events that have transpired in the past few days, that Holly has developed something akin to romantic emotions for me.' Artemis said his heart leaping despite the analytical tone of his inner monologue. 'It appears that I have arrived at one of those rare and exciting times in my life when I am unsure of what to do.' He thought as he stood and made his way to the kitchen.

The first person who came to mind when he thought of people to ask for advice was his mother. However after a few brief seconds he decided against that option, there would be some tears, significant glances whenever Holly was in the room, and so many questions… Better to ask his father.

Holly hopped out of the scalding shower, threw on her towel, went to her room and got ready for work. While she was getting dressed she heard the shower turn on, then a yelp from the bathroom. Smiling as she walked to the kitchen strapping on her wrist computer, she remembered humans didn't take heat quite as well as elves.

Artemis wandered into the kitchen with tousled wet hair with a reddish wheal rising on his left hand.

"I don't know how you can shower in that temperature, it was like I stuck my hand in a kettle." Artemis said half sarcastic, half incredulous.

Holly shrugged, "If you lived near the center of the earth for close to ten thousand years you probably wouldn't mind a hot shower all that much." she said with a smirk.

After a light breakfast of protein and fiber bars, the only food Holly had in her cupboards, they made their way to the mag-car and sped off towards police plaza. Artemis peered out at the recovering cityscape beyond. He watched as drone lifters moved pieces of fallen stalactites and stalagmites from the roads, carrying them away to what he assumed to be E1 judging by their trajectory. The scene was very different from the tragedy six months ago, as new lighting panels were added and in the far off industrial district the foundries pumped out new machines free of Koboi tech.

Holly looked over from her seat to see Artemis staring pensively out of the window.

"Something on your mind Arty?" She inquired not really expecting a response.

There was a long pause but as they decended into a tunnel, Artemis looked around with the same faraway look on his face.

"I am merely wondering if the humans have been able to rebuild as quickly as the People have." Artemis said neutrally.

Holly shrugged, "Some have, some haven't." she glanced at Artemis as he nodded as lines began to form on his brow again, his great mind was puzzling away at something.

Holly walked along with nobody in particular up to the gates of Police Plaza. Once her and nobody else had stepped through the door Artemis took off the cam foil suit that he had grown quite accustomed to wearing the last few days. Together they strode towards Foaly's office and entered to see the genius centaur soldering a few loose wires together on a work bench. He looked up as they entered the room,

"Never took you for a late riser Fowl, I always assumed that was Holly's thing." He said cheekily, depositing his equipment on the bench and clopping over to stand before them.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "I would suggest shrinking your couch down to half its normal size then try sleeping on it, it might illuminate why I needed the extra rest." Artemis said, annoyed.

"Ahh so you actually slept on the couch," Foaly said, earning a withering glare from Holly before he continued. "I would try out your little exercise in comfort denial mud man, but I'm already jogging four nights a week with Caballine so I have all the comfort denial I need." He finished sarcastically.

Artemis looked the centaur up and down, "Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Artemis said, cracking a vampiric grin and staring pointedly at the centaur's gut.

Foaly huffed as Holly chuckled, "Really Arty? Calling me fat? You had to have a better joke ready than that? And to think Caballine wants you to come over for dinner so she can meet the famous Artemis Fowl." Foaly said in a mocking tone.

Artemis' eyebrow was in danger of disappearing into his raven-black hair. "I am not ashamed I didn't make a more intellectual joke, the one concerning your weight hit home just fine. Also I would love to come to dinner any time, I would merely prefer there to be more than carrots for supper." Artemis said smugly.

Foaly grumbled walking over to a sheet of smart paper. Flicking his hand across it he pulled up Artemis' file and handed the paper off to the genius with a disgruntled, "You're welcome…"

Looking down and analyzing the various charts and reading they had acquired he looked back up, his face set, "Only minor biochemical fluctuations from base readings? You are sure that the only side effect of me existing in a clone body is a fluctuating metabolism?" Artemis said in both shock and suspicion that the centaur was hiding something.

Foaly shook his head, "That and you have had some sporadic activation of a few oncogenes." He raised his hands and spoke in a calming tone at Artemis' harsh facial expression. "Don't worry, we took out the problem areas before you came to inhabit the clone." Artemis relaxed though Holly looked confused.

"So the chrysalis changed Artemis' genes?" she said bluntly, she wasn't entirely sure what elicited such a strong response from the usually cool Artemis.

Artemis looked around and said with a know it all tone blended with obvious relief, "Oncogenes are genes that if mutated often result in uncontrolled division and further genetic instability, in other words, cancer."

"Oh, but Foaly got it all out of you right?" Holly said worriedly, biting her lip.

"Of course there hasn't been a fairy who died of cancer in centuries," He took a deep breath, "I just wonder what other genetic changes might make themselves evident as time goes on."

Foaly piped up in a cheery tone to mask the serious conversation, "Well if you decide to grow a tumor in the near future come right on back but tonight you are dining at the Casa de la Foaly, is it safe to assume that Holly here is your plus one?" He said both mockingly and jovially.

Artemis allowed a ghost of a smile to flit across his face before he could respond, "I accept your dinner offer I merely request that afterward I get sent back home to my family with a clean bill of health." He said politely for a change, Foaly was a little taken aback but agreed none the less.

"We are planning on having dinner around six thirty, casual dress, not that I expect to see you in anything other than a suit Arty." Foaly said as he went back to his soldering, which functioned as a casual dismissal.

"I don't have much of a choice, I only brought suits down here also, don't call me Arty," Artemis said as he walked out of Foaly's office Holly followed with a smirk at Foaly who in turn gave her an all too knowing look as she shut the door.


	8. Chapter 8

_Dearest readers, I feel I must apologize for the frankly ridiculous delays between this chapter and the last. I have recently moved into a new apartment and my internets have been failing. I hope this chapter is to your liking I tried to elongate it to account for the extra amount of time I had to write it. – Anne Elke_

**Dinner Time**

After a short mag-car ride Artemis was back in Holly's apartment, shut away from the light of the artificial day, while Holly went back out on traffic and patrol duty. Looking around the empty apartment he found himself drawn to the terminal. After a bit of light hacking he was into every one of Foaly's classified files, he sighed, he would have gotten in faster if he hadn't been using the Fairy equivalent of dial up. Pushing onward he resolved himself to mention the relatively slow terminal speed to Holly.

Looking through the LEP's operations record he found a few incidents that were barely contained. One particular incident report jumped out at him, Temple Bar. Memories of a melting wall and three short yet imposing figures skirted across his mind, but they were soon replaced with discordant flashes of other images. He watched as trolls loped after him and Holly in massive bounds, the terror that was this first image was then replaced with Mulch's hairy bum poking out of the ceiling.

Instantly cataloguing this incomplete recall he returned to his work, opening and scanning every one of Foaly's files. He opened one of the more encrypted files ironically titled "Secret", Artemis rolled his eyes at Foaly and his penchant for melodrama. He clicked open the file and was assailed by a variety of helmet feeds and incident report files. He clicked the first file that caught his eye, a video feed titled: DMG CTRL INC#12. The feed showed the crashed remains of an LEP shuttle loaded with a mobile Ice-Cube device, the video which at first appeared to be grainy and low quality was merely obscured by the spread out nano-wafers Artemis had designed himself. Artemis observed the architecture surrounding the shuttle, widely spaced buildings made mostly out of unadorned concrete. It looked an awful lot like Russia, but it was nigh on impossible to tell with the obscured picture. As explosions ripped through the city in the background a few curious souls began nervously shuffling towards the shuttle. A red light, visible from the cracked cockpit blinked three times and the camera went bright white so fast Artemis felt his recently regained retinas burn for a moment until the view readjusted. The shuttle, the poor people close to it and a nearby gas station were naught but flames. Artemis' brow furrowed, rewinding the film until he found the red dot once more. Bringing up the magnify function he zoomed in on the blaring message on the broken dash of the shuttle. _Human observation detected, no override, initiate containment contingency_, the message read in gnommish, backing out of this file he looked over the twenty or so incident reports. Artemis' brow furrowed as he clicked each video, watching the price of his failure exacted again and again in twenty different locations.

Holly pushed her way through the rubble covered streets of Havens warehouse district bumping aside gruff gnomes and shocked goblins following the fleeing fairy ahead of her. Really this whole chase was an exercise in frivolity, the goblin they were following was headed towards her recently assigned partner, who was waiting at the dead end the poor fugitive was unwittingly heading towards. The warehouse district was home to many displaced fairies since the more advanced homes filled with koboi wings and hoverboys happened to be mostly rubble. Most were moving into council funded housing within a few weeks, however that didn't stop some from turning to thievery for a living.

Holly whipped around the bend bumping and dodging civilians who didn't throw themselves up to a wall when they saw the chase progressing. She cleared the last crowd of frightened fairies and spotted her perp, trying to melt his way through the thin metal wall that trapped him. Hearing the elf approach he turned around fireballs still in hand, licking his eyeballs nervously.

"Let me go, and I won't fry you." the goblin said lamely, losing the fireball in his left hand with the mental stress of talking and using magic at the same time. Holly sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I was never going to be the one to catch you." She said, stalling for time, the Goblin's eyes widened and his other fireball went out.

The weakened wall behind the goblin gave way as the hulking form of a demon burst through, armored plates shouldering with the molten remains of the wall. Crouching like a rugby player he straightened in a lightning quick uppercut that saw the goblin land in front of Holly completely out cold. He turned to his temporary partner, shaking off the remaining debris from his armored form.

"Did I do well Cap'n?" He said with a look of hopeful uncertainty that looked strange crossing his fierce, demonic features.

Holly examined the demon's handiwork, nudging the passed out goblin with her foot, then looked up into the hulking demon's eager face.

"Generally we try and take them conscious and read them their rights first." She started noting how the rookie's face fell. "But points for enthusiasm." She finished with a chuckle, "Remind me not to make you mad, let's cuff him and head in."

Hauling the pickpocket into the back of their outdated cruiser, they located the fairy whose purse was stolen, returned it to her, and started back towards the station. The young demon seemed to fidget a bit before breaking the silence that fell across the car after heading out from the warehouse district.

"I've heard from my buddy in ops that you have a human in your apartment." He said in a rush, he froze after he said this, and managed to look like a guilty child as he squirmed in his chair, rather than the hulking armored demon he was.

Holly sighed after the demon confessed what he knew, from what she had heard he had barely warped when he had entered the academy, and that was certainly showing now with his immature handling of the situation.

"That is classified, trainee." She said noting how put out the young buck became at her stern tone, "But you aren't wrong, you should tell your buddy in ops to keep his mouth shut though, mind wipe tech still works on fairies." She said neutrally.

Still looking uncomfortable the demon fidgeted again as the mag-car fell into a more awkward silence than before.

"I'm sorry Captain I don't mean to pry, I… I've never seen a human before is all." The demon said, nervous he was going to make the captain angry. Holly raised an eyebrow at her young partner.

"You haven't seen one on PPTV or on a terminal?" Holly said warily, focusing on the scenery whizzing by, police plaza was getting closer as the mag-car zipped along the recently erected rails.

The demon shrugged, "I have, but I have never seen one in person," his voice fell to a conspiratorial whisper. "I also heard the human is Artemis Fowl."

Holly was growing annoyed, the young demon who had just captured a petty criminal and represented the next generation of police officer, and here he was gossiping like a child. She didn't say anything to the demon to confirm or deny his suspicions.

"Gnash, check on the prisoner." Holly ordered taciturnly.

The young demon looked around at the goblin, who was still out cold and wearing fire-proof handcuffs. He turned back around in his seat to face the dash again.

"I guess the reason I mention it is that I heard that he helped take down Abbot, he must be quite imposing I heard from my friend who was at the volcano that he was at least six feet tall and had the powers of a warlock." Gnash said excitedly.

Holly actually laughed at that, Artemis was an imposing young man, but the image this demon had in his head was bizarre.

"If I were you I wouldn't believe every demon that came off the volcano on Hybras. Artemis wasn't the one taking down swathes of demons as they charged us." Holly said bemused.

Gnash's face moved as if to raise his eyebrows, they were nearly at the disembarkation point.

"Who was stunning the demons then?" he asked thinking he already knew the answer.

"Me." Holly replied with a wry grin as she lithely exited the cruiser and started to ready the fugitive for processing.

After the work day, Holly was packing up some paperwork that despite its urgency, would probably reside on her kitchen table until she guiltily took it to work the next day, unfinished. She was looking over a few bulletins on her slip of smart paper when Trouble walked in.

"Captain Short." He said almost tersely.

"Commander." Holly said formally, snapping up into attention.

Trouble seemed to relax and leaned against the frame of her door.

"Look Holly I know I have been acting a little stiffly. But don't think I don't realize what you have done for the People." Trouble started off, his tone friendlier than it had been in the months since he had gotten engaged.

"I just wanted to let you know that your term in traffic and patrol will only continue for two more weeks then you are to be reinstated as a full recon field agent. Good luck, Major." Trouble said, the edges of his mouth turning up slightly for a moment then he resumed his rigid posture turned on his heel and left the room leaving Holly shocked behind him.

Holly sat in stunned silence most of the way through the ride home. Of all the things to happe n to her at work that was the least expected. She wanted to see Artemis' reaction for one, her being a major did mean more vacation days but it also meant less above ground missions, she might see a lot less of her best friend than she had before the Opal incident.

Before Holly knew it the mag-car had stopped in front of her apartment. With her new salary she could most likely afford a larger place but what would be the point really, she wasn't much of a homebody. Ascending the steps to her apartment she remembered that she actually had dinner plans, and smiled at the prospect. Still smiling she made her way to her apartment, casually swiping her card before the doors reader.

She entered to the sight of Artemis hunched over the comically sized terminal. Upon hearing her enter he straightened up and turned to face her.

"Oh honey, I'm home!" Holly said jokingly as she set aside her work duffel near the door and went to the kitchen to grab something to eat when she opened the fridge however, it was stocked with groceries.

Artemis rounded the corner with the ghost of a vampiric grin on his face. "A good thing too, the children have been raising cain." His expression shifted to one of uncertainty, "That would be the correct line for this domestic farce?"

Holly turned around still astounded that she had more than nettle smoothies in her fridge. "yeah… Artemis what's with all the groceries?"

Artemis felt blood rising in his ears, but suppressed his slight giddiness that came as he saw how surprised she was, "It was rather simple really, I created a fake identity, used that to establish a credit with one of your fairy banks, I then contacted Doodah Day, he ran the groceries over for a fee, which I paid with the aforementioned credit." He said in an arrogant yet casual manner. "It was nice to catch up with Doodah, he has been doing well for himself."

Holly raised an eyebrow and shook her head, "That sounds a bit more than 'simple' Arty." She said with mock disapproval, but her smile betrayed her.

Artemis shrugged with a smirk, "It wasn't much but I figured it was the least I could do." He turned back to the other room and went back to his work on the terminal. Meanwhile an ugly thought crossed Holly's mind.

"You didn't do anything illegal in getting those groceries for me did you?" Holly asked cautiously.

Artemis, now engrossed with his work looked back with a flash of annoyance and hurt, "The only illegal thing I did was make the identity, after the transaction was complete I deleted the fake persona and they bank will receive a portion of my consulting fee the beginning of next week.

Holly looked a little guilty, then realized what Artemis had said.

"Consulting fee?" She said, relishing the implication of what he had just said.

"Yes the LEP, and by LEP I mean Trouble and the remaining council members have decided that I am a valuable asset, I am supposed to find out before I leave today, but if they really didn't want me to know beforehand they would have told Foaly to put some tighter security on the memos."

He was interrupted in his dogging of the cyber security of the LEP by a bear hug from his elfin friend that nearly bowled him over.

"That is great news Arty!" Holly said jubilantly.

Awkwardly setting her down and giving her a few pats on the back Artemis peeked over at the terminal for a second, smiling, "I believe you also have some news for me?" He said expectantly.

Holly's face was blank for a second then her face split into a grin, "It seems that you could tell me, but I will humor you, I was promoted to Major." She said sarcastically.

Artemis smiled and nodded at the terminal. Holly looking over at it saw her LEP profile, rolling her eyes at her friend's hacking, she noticed that his arms still hung loosely from her lower back, smiling at him she looked down at his arms. Artemis followed her gaze, blushed bright red, and dropped his arms to his knees which he used to push himself out of the tiny fairy chair.

"Don't we have dinner at Foaly's to attend?" He said, flustered.

Holly smirked at Artemis' reaction, it was a smirk that emphasized her full lips and black-widow beauty. The genius flushed at the implied affirmative and set out to selecting what shoes he was going to wear to match his immaculately pressed suit, partially just to get some rather inappropriate thoughts out of his brilliant mind.

Chuckling Holly went to her room and was soon dressed in a baggy dull green jumpsuit with a belt wrapped around partway up her midriff, the only places where the jumpsuit fit snugly was across the elf's hips and abdomen. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Holly, is that appropriate dinner attire?" Artemis said, chuckling as he leaned against the wall that separated the kitchen from the living area.

Holly looked at herself and then at Artemis, he did look a great deal more well dressed than her.

"Would you prefer I wear something a bit more feminine?" she said cocking her own eyebrow as she looked up into Artemis' face.

Embarrassed, Artemis smoothly backtracked, or at least he thought it was smooth. "I didn't mean that you look poorly dressed, I was merely thinking that the occasion may have called for more formal attire. I didn't mean to imply that you didn't look presentable, that is to say, you look good." He finished, managing to keep his cheeks from turning bright red with breathing exercises.

Holly looked taken aback by the compliment for a moment then grinned wickedly at the nervous man in front of her, "Relax Arty, it's just dinner with Foaly, nothing to get so worked up over." She said, heading towards the door to call the mag-car.

'My irritation has nothing to do with Foaly…' Artemis thought mutinously as the smug elf let her invisible friend into the passenger seat of the mag-car.

They arrived at Foaly's residence still bickering, they stepped out of the mag-car, Artemis looking somewhat deflated, while Holly smugly jumped out of the vehicle. Cabaline came out of the front door and motioned them inside.

"Fashionably late I see come on in!" The centaur said putting an arm affectionately around Holly's shoulders as they walked up the path.

"Arty here was worried I wouldn't be dressed up enough for the occasion." Holly said mockingly punching Artemis lightly on the arm as they trudged up the path to the front door.

Cabaline raised an eyebrow, "I don't believe we have been introduced, Cabaline." She said amused as Artemis looked at Holly in irritation.

"Artemis Fowl, pleasure to meet you." Artemis said breaking away from his irritating friend to look at Cabaline, his face smoothing into a more formal expression.

"I have heard quite a bit about you from my husband, he never mentioned the obsession with traditional dinner wear." Cabaline said her face splitting into a remarkably feline smile for someone with a centaur's features.

Holly chuckled and Artemis' brow furrowed as they entered the dwelling.

The dinner was going well, Foaly's foal Equid was talking about his latest projects, it appeared to Artemis that the young centaur was less technically inclined than his father, not that he wasn't brilliant, his brilliance just pertained to theater rather than constructing high tech gadgetry.

Lucky for the young foal Artemis was an avid fan of theater, Holly however was not so artistically inclined. Cabaline, noting her friend's glazed over eyes caught her attention.

"Not that I don't love to hear about your reimagining of Shakespeare Equyy, but Aunt Holly has yet to see all the renovations." Cabaline explained to her enigmatic son, who to his credit looked up from his discussion with Artemis before being drawn back to the discussion.

Holly and Cabaline walked back into the main living space, six months ago Foaly's van had made a sizable hole in the wall, all that remained as evidence is that the furniture that had originally occupied the space was entirely new.

"Sorry Holly, my son can get a bit intense about his passions." Cabaline said cracking a smile at her elfin friend.

Holly cracked a grin, "I have had Artemis Fowl in my apartment for the last couple of days, and I am fairly used to brilliant yet oblivious geniuses." Cabaline raised an eyebrow.

"Oblivious? So you haven't told him yet?" Cabaline said her smile a toothier version of Artemis' vampiric smirk.

Holly leaned against the Coffee table giving her friend a quizzical look. "Someone comes back to life and you expect me to start gushing my feelings like some college elf? I thought you knew me better than that." Holly said sarcastically.

Cabaline gave her friend a knowing smile, "Well he is human, a particularly danger-prone human at that, so I wouldn't waste too much time." She stamped her hoof in mock annoyance causing Holly to laugh somewhat nervously, she had been on the receiving end of a kick delivered from those hooves before, and it was not an experience she wanted to repeat.

"Fine, fine, I will tell him soon, I just want to make sure he is alright with the idea of being alive first." Holly said raising her arms in a placating gesture. Cabaline looked unconvinced, but she relented.

Returning to the other room Holly and Cabaline's dinner mates were discussing themes in human and fairy theater over cookies that Foaly proudly claimed to have made himself, Holly snatched one up as points and counterpoints stacked against one another. Holly tried to look interested as she took a bite and nearly gagged, it was burned to nearly a crisp.

After the debates had subsided and Artemis and Holly were saying their farewells,

"Though we may disagree, I find your view on the arts and the theater quite refreshing." Artemis said, the grudging respect evident in his tone. He really had to consult with the young centaur when he wrote his next play. The foal smiled as Foaly hugged Holly goodbye. The goodbyes being said died in their respective speaker's throats as the sound of small boots crunching up the path to the front door could be heard.

Cabaline opened the front door catching Trouble Kelp as he raised his fist to knock.

"Sorry for my lateness I was held up," He said formally, a package finding its way out of his pocket and into Holly Short's hands. "I had the computer run a scan for footprints in our database, we found someone had been accessing the future announcements files usually only visible to the Commander of the LEP and the council. The announcement is tomorrow at eight Major Short, try to look surprised, And as for you our new consultant, you are to remain rather hush hush, we want to make sure we have our PR guys do some thorough analysis before we make any info about you public."

This blitz of information was received with a neutral expression from Artemis and a sheepish grin from Holly as Trouble turned and walked away, "You all have a good night, remember to wait to open the package until tomorrow Major." He said with dry mirth lacing his voice as he made his way back to he mag-car.

As promised, after much exhileration for the career news for both Artemis and Holly, Artemis was headed back to the surface. He had ditched the cam-foil as there was no need to remain hidden in the LEP section of the shuttle bay. He marched alongside his elfin companion in comfortable silence which only seemed to draw attention to the fact that fairys couldn't stop staring.

The silence persisted until both Artemis and Holly were safely sealed in a shuttle and Holly was performing the preflight checklist. Artemis chose this moment to voice his mind.

"It looks like our adventures are taking a turn for the official." Artemis said in a bemused tone.

Holly sent a cocksure grin his way as she finished the checklist and threw the shuttle into the chute. "They probably realized they couldn't break up the dream team, regardless of what they have said in the past we have ended up saving their hides, now we both get to file incident reports." She finished as she made Artemis' stomach drop with her crazy, yet inspired maneuvering.

Artemis rolled his eyes, "Oh joy, paperwork." He said sarcastically. But he looked at his friend, and now coworker with a calculating look, thinking that he would need to write a program to do that particular tedious activity for him.

About an hour of ass-puckering shuttle flight later a queasy Artemis piled out of the shuttle followed by an amused Holly Short.

"If anything, since my return you have gotten even more reckless behind the wheel." He panted fighting the bile rising in his throat.

Smiling Holly put a hand on her human friend's shoulder. "I just figured you needed something a little life affirming." She said grinning.

"Consider my life affirmed," He said matching her grin and standing to face her.

"Thank you Holly for everything."

"No problem Arty."

They stood there for a moment before they briefly embraced, Artemis kneeling down to better reach his elfin friend. As they broke away Holly planted a brief kiss on his cheek.

He stood, touching the spot where she kissed him, his ears turning red.

Holly grinned at his reaction even as his features became neutral again.

Reaching into a pocket she pulled out what appeared to be a phone, tossing it to Artemis, who clumsily caught it. "Keep in touch mud-man, it may be a bit clunky but it is the best we've got." She said as he examined the communicator.

Artemis looked up at her, as she shielded and headed back towards the concealed shuttle. "Talk to you later, Major." He said smiling as he turned to face his home.

_I apologize again for the truly ridiculous wait. There will be more to follow not to worry and it won't take a half month to write dag-gummit!_


End file.
